What is self settling?

Putting the dummy in for them isn’t self settling I think. It’s them sucking their hands, smacking their legs down, moving their head left and right onto the mattress etc etc. I’m in the midst of trying to teach my son to self settle, there is cry it out methods which I don’t recommend, you can read up about them if you’d like! I’ve been focusing on naps first, as nights are harder anyway as we’re more tired ourselves. So I put him down in his cot drowsy but awake, so his eyes are slowly closing but he’s still aware, and then I say nap time and leave the room. I use a monitor and watch him and as soon as he starts crying (not fussing and grunting a proper cry) I go in and try and help him calm down whilst he’s still in his cot and don’t pick them up unless they are crying even though you’re there helping them. And then repeat it over and over again and they should fall asleep eventually, it takes a lot of time and effort but it’s the nicest way to do it. xx

I think self settling is where you don't need to intervene at all so dummy would not be self settling unless they can put it in themselves x I think it's quite difficult to get little ones to self settle. Gentle Sleep training perhaps? X

Once they get to an older age they should be able to pop their dummy in by themselves and that would be self settling, unfortunately my son can’t do that yet and been stuck in the 4 month sleep regression for 7 weeks now so trying new things x

I think people get way too caught up with this self settling thing! If your little one is going to sleep on their own and they’re just using a dummy to help then that is amazing! I would class it as self settling definitely. You and the little one are just using it to help! And makes them feel safe and happy. My one has only just started going to sleep on his own but we use a dummy to help him go off and I’m so proud of him! I used to spend a good hour rocking and having to wait until he was in a deep sleep before I even put him down and this week we’ve had win after win 🙌 xxx